A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF BUTTS COUNTY AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE OF EMPLOYEES OF CONSTITUTIONAL AND ELECTED OFFICIALS, AND OF CERTAIN COMMISSIONERS, BOARDS AND BODIES UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE BUTTS COUNTY MERIT SYSTEM OF PERSONNEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES; TO AMEND THE PERSONNEL ORDINANCE OF BUTTS COUNTY WHERE NECESSARY; TO REPEAL CONFLICTING LANGUAGE AND ENSURE CONSISTENCY; TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN TO SIGN THE RESOLUTION ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS; TO AUTHORIZE THE CLERK OF THE 122nd SESSION OF BUTTS COUNTY TO ATTEST ALL DOCUMENTS; AND FOR OTHER RELATED AND LAWFUL PURPOSES.

WHEREAS, Butts County is a duly created and validly existing political subdivision of the State of Georgia under the Constitution and laws of the state of Georgia, and;

WHEREAS, the Butts County Board of Commissioners is the governing authority of the County, elected by the qualified electors of Butts County and vested with fiscal and legislative responsibilities necessary to the managing of the affairs of the County government, including the governance, well-being and regulation of persons employed with the County, and;

WHEREAS, the Governing Authority has, since at least 1989, created and maintained a civil service system, officially known as the Merit System of Personnel Policies and Procedures, and colloquially referred to as the “Personnel Ordinance”, or the “Merit System” in accordance with the authority granted to Counties to establish such a system under Article IX of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, and which currently exists in the form of the 5th Edition, as adopted in 2018 and amended in 2019, and;

WHEREAS, under O.C.G.A. 36-1-21, the county governing authority which created the system may provide, by ordinance or resolution, that positions of employment within departments subject to the jurisdiction of elected county officers or subject to the jurisdiction of other commissions, boards, or bodies of the county shall be subject to and covered by the civil service system upon the written application of the elected county officer, commission, board, or body having the power of appointment, employment, or removal of employees of the officer, department, commission, board, or body, and;

WHEREAS, it is anticipated that elected county officers have a genuine interest in affording their employees the same benefits, privileges and protections as those granted to County employees already under the Merit System and may, by written application, choose to exercise such authority to make such written application, and;

WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners may, following the passage of a resolution which establishes the eligibility of an elected county officer or other commission, board or body to submit a written application, pass subsequent resolutions accepting the employees of the same under the Merit System of Personnel Policies and Procedures and desires to do so; now, therefore, be it:

RESOLVED, the Commission hereby declares that the foregoing preamble and whereas provisions set forth hereinabove constitute, and shall be considered to be, substantive provisions of this Resolution and are hereby incorporated by reference into this provision, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Commissioners of Butts County, through this Resolution and by its passage, does hereby establish that any and all employees of Elected County Officers shall be eligible for inclusion in the Merit System of Butts County, only after satisfying the following conditions, to wit:

1. A written application shall be filed with the Clerk of Butts County to the Board of Commissioners of the same, by the authorized Elected County Officer, OR the Chairperson of any other commissions, boards, or bodies of the county as outlined herein, requesting that the employees of his or her elected office, or those of the particular commission, board, or body of the County, be accepted under the Merit System of Personnel Policies and Procedures.

2. The Clerk of Butts County shall prepare a Resolution that enables the Board of Commissioners to accept the eligible employees, as delineated by the Resolution, of the applicant elected official or body, and which outlines the general provisions of acceptance under the Merit System, including a general statement of what provisions shall be in effect from the moment of passage forward.

3. The Board of Commissioners shall, upon a reading of the substantive portions of the Resolution at a meeting open to the public, vote to either accept or reject the Resolution, which, upon such passage of and the affixing of signatures required upon the same, shall become effective immediately unless otherwise stated.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for the purpose of this Resolution, that the following elected county offices, commissions, boards and bodies of Butts County Georgia shall be eligible to apply for the inclusion of any eligible employees of the same, under the auspices of the Butts County Merit System, to wit:

1. The Office of the Sheriff of Butts County;
2. The Office of the Probate Judge of Butts County;
3. The Office of the Clerk of Superior Court of Butts County
4. The Office of the Tax Commissioner of Butts County
5. The Office of the Chief Magistrate of Butts County
6. The Office of the Coroner of Butts County, only if eligible employees exist;
7. The Board of Assessors of Butts County, unless legislatively included already;
8. The Board of Elections of Butts County, unless legislatively included already, and
9. The Library Board of Butts County, unless legislatively included already.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for the purposes of this Resolution that eligible employees as a minimum standard, shall only include employees who work a minimum of 40 hours per week

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution and all provisions herein, shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its adoption by the Butts County Board of Commissioners and that any and all resolutions or parts of resolutions, in conflict with this Resolution shall be, and to the extent of such conflict are, hereby repealed, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that through this Resolution, any provisions or parts of any provision, article, section, paragraph or other provision of the Code of Butts County and the Personnel Ordinance of Butts County that are in conflict with this Resolution shall be, and to the extent of such conflict are, hereby repealed, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the express intention of the Board of Commissioners that each independent provision of this Resolution should be adopted, and that the Board would have adopted each such independent provision, even if the others had not been adopted; therefore, in the event that a court of competent jurisdiction finds that any of the aforementioned provisions of this Resolution to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, it is the intent of the Board of Commissioners that the offending provision be severed, and that all lawful provisions shall remain in force, and;

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Board authorizes the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners to sign this Resolution on their behalf and further authorizes the Clerk of Butts County to attest all signatures and to file this this Resolution in the Book of Resolutions, Volume 1, and is hereby:

ADOPTED in open session this 9th Day of March, Two Thousand and Twenty

/s/ Ken Rivers, Chairman

/s/ J. Michael Brewer
Clerk of the 122nd Session

Author: Brewer, M
Status: Adopted